AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No! Please let me go.” She glared at him.
He didn’t release her. “Dania, I’m so sorry about what Randy did. But now that you know how my relationship was with him, I hope you see me differently.”
“I do. Really, I do.” Her bottom lip gave a slight tremble. “But I can’t go back to prison. Please don’t make me.”
What would Deputy Marshal Logan Mansfield do in a situation like this? Logan would tell her the truth and be there for her, just as he had been for Brett until Gran had come to pick him up.
But Dania had no family.
No one to pick her up. No one on her side.
After all this poor woman had been through, Brett had to step up and do what his conscience told him to do, even though he’d be going against his training and becoming personally involved with a fugitive. But if he didn’t follow what his gut told him, what kind of man would he be? He’d be as selfish as Randy.
On the other hand, he might lose his life’s work. He would be crossing a line he could never recover from and breaking his oath to maintain the law.
But he could never respect himself again if he didn’t cross that line.
Moonlight settled on her face, accentuating her finely sculpted cheekbones and dark eyes that pleadingly studied him.
“I won’t turn you in.” He let go of her. The decision made.
“Is this some kind of trick again?” Her hand rubbed her arm where he’d held her too tightly.
“No.” He could picture Gabe having a fit, demanding answers, and arresting him, but he quickly pushed those images aside. He’d deal with the repercussions later. “This is what Matt would want me to do.”
“Just to be clear, you’ll help me find the real killer and not put me in jail, right?” Dania stared at him like he was the most dubious person she’d ever met, but she needed him.
“Yes.” He couldn’t blame her for being cautious since he’d lied to her only moments ago.
Her hand went to her forehead, and she gave a sigh. Her relief became palpable. Looking up, she said, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
She took a deep breath. “So, what’s the plan?”
“Plan?” He was still recovering from making this huge decision. “We’re already planning?”
“I had a plan, but as I tried to carry it out, I realized I needed your help. What’s our first move?” She started walking toward his Pathfinder.
“Well...” What was his plan? He shined the light ahead of them as they walked. “First thing in the morning—”
“You mean this morning?” A trace of a smile flickered to her lips.
“Okay, this morning, I plan to call Sheriff Kennard and tell him I need all the files he has on Matt’s case; plus, I want Matt’s cell phone and laptop. I know they downloaded information from his cell, but it wouldn’t hurt to check again. I’ll give them to BB. She’s a wizard when it comes to doing anything with technology. I’ll even have her get in touch with a criminal genealogist. Is that all right with you?” He hoped so.
“What’s a criminal genealogist?”
“The federal government has a gene pool where they have collected DNA from criminals. From the DNA they collect from a crime scene, they are able to use genealogy trees to track down a murder suspect.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It’s fairly new.”
“I guess that would help. But it sounds like that would take a lot of time. And time is something I don’t have. It might be better to see what the sheriff has already covered and what he missed.” Dania seemed revived. “And it would also be good to speak with Vanessa Cromwell, Matt’s old boss, and his secretary, Sherry. They should be able to fill in any blanks.” She walked on one side of him, Jasper on the other.
“Okay.” A tiredness breathed over Brett. Too much stress and not enough sleep was exhausting. “There’s something else we need to figure out.”
They’d reached the car. “What’s that?”
